Lundin Mining has cut 2026 copper guidance at its high‑altitude Caserones mine in Chile’s Atacama region to 120,000–130,000 tonnes, from 130,000–140,000 tonnes, after a second severe winter storm caused fresh power outages and infrastructure damage. The storm on 13–14 August brought heavy rain, strong winds and unusually heavy snow that damaged an already compromised transmission tower, extending downtime that began with a 12‑day outage in July and blocking access routes. Consolidated copper guidance is now 300,000–325,000 tonnes, with Caserones cash costs raised to $2.15–$2.35/lb and group costs to $1.95–$2.15/lb, underlining weather‑driven availability risk for Andean operations.

Fortescue has produced first hot metal using its electric smelting process at the Green Metal Project pilot plant at Christmas Creek in Western Australia, marking initial proof-of-concept for Australian “green iron” production. The pilot is designed to test electric smelting of iron ore fines on site rather than exporting raw ore, creating a potential pathway to decarbonise downstream ironmaking traditionally reliant on coal-fired blast furnaces. For mine planners and process engineers, the move signals growing interest in integrating beneficiation, electrified smelting and renewable power directly at large Pilbara operations.

Maaden and Aramco have signed a shareholders’ agreement to create a joint venture focused on mineral exploration and hard‑rock mining across Saudi Arabia. The JV will combine Maaden’s multi‑commodity mining portfolio with Aramco’s capital strength and subsurface data capabilities to target new resources beyond the kingdom’s existing gold, phosphate and bauxite operations. For geotechnical and mine planning teams, the move signals a likely ramp‑up in greenfield drilling, resource definition and associated infrastructure development in under‑explored terrains.